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Encyclopedia: Wikipedia:Category deletion policy, Wikipedia:Category deletion policy/Speedy criteria

Caution: Be sure to check the history of the category. If it has a non-trivial history or isn't relatively new, it is likely that the category once did contain articles, and deeper investigation is needed before deleting the category to make sure that it wasn't emptied just to bypass WP:CFD.

Childless categories

If a category that has no children is nominated on WP:CFD, and the discussion gets no consensus to delete, then it may not be deleted just for being empty until at least 30 days after nomination.

Categories that should exist but it is clear are missing articles or subcategories should be added to :Category:Underpopulated categories.

Template/Category overlap

If a category is only used as generated by a template (e.g. :Category:Foo Stubs to correspond with Template:Foo Stub), and that template is deleted by regular WP:TFD process, then the category can be deleted as well as long as it was nominated along with the template, or mentioned early in the discussion.

Normal closure

How to declare a "delete" decision:
* Wait at least 7 days after nomination.
* Make sure there is a clear consensus to delete.
* Save interesting conversations in /resolved; discard uninteresting conversations.
* De-populate the category or move it to "Empty me".
* List the category to "Delete me" (unless it is a "red link", in which case, it is already deleted)
* An administrator will delete it.

How to declare a "keep" decision:
* Wait at least 7 days after nomination.
* Make sure there is a clear consensus to keep.
* Add a link to the discussion on category's talk page using * Link to precedent-setting conversations from /resolved.
* Remove the tag from the category page.

For guidelines and procedures for closing discussions see:
* Deletion process
* Guidelines for administrators

Controversial decisions

If no clear consensus to delete is reached after 7 days:
* Move the discussion to Wikipedia:Categories for deletion/unresolved.
* Post a note or template on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion inviting further comment.
* Unresolved discussions that are part of a larger theme (e.g. the categorization of people, non-Wikipedia classification schemes) should be grouped together and spawn a :Category:Wikipedia policy thinktank page if appropriate.
* If there is no consensus to delete one week after posting on CfD, the decision shall be keep.

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Speedy renaming procedure

Certain minor renaming issues for categories do not require voting, but can be done simply by being bold. These issues allowing speedy renaming are strictly limited to the criteria listed below. Anything else is not a speedy rename, and should be listed in the main section on Wikipedia:Categories for discussion.

Users who are not administrators cannot rename categories by themselves, so they should list them on Wikipedia:Categories for discussion#Speedy renaming.

These nominations can be processed after two days, and removed once the process is complete.

If a category qualifies for speedy-renaming and a category already exists for the destined name, then the contents of the former should be moved to the latter. Since category redirects do not work well, the former category should be deleted.

Adding criteria

Suggestions for new criteria should be advertised on such places as the village pump, current surveys, categories for deletion and centralized discussion. If the discussion gets lengthy, it might be good to create a page for it rather than hold it on a talk page. If a strong consensus is reached on a naming convention, it should be added to the speedy renaming criteria below.

If you feel that an established and consensual naming convention would be appropriate here, please list it on Wikipedia talk:Categories for discussion. If there are no objections after a week, it can be added to the list of criteria here. If there are objections, a consensus should be formed.

See also Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) and Wikipedia:Categorization.

Wikipedia:Category deletion policy/Speedy


Category deletion policy